Peadar Tóibín
Question:315. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline projects in which the Department co-operates with the Department of Social Development in the North. [54163/12]
View answerTuesday, 4 December 2012
Questions (315, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329)
Gerry Adams
Question:325. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Social Protection the nature, process and outcomes of North-South co-operation with respect to the assessment and payment of social welfare benefits; and the payment of cross-border benefits and the issue of fraud control. [54384/12]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:326. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Social Protection the process through which the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland is agreed with the Executive in the North. [54385/12]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:327. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Social Protection the nature, process and outcomes of the cross-Border operational forum. [54386/12]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:328. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Social Protection the nature, process and outcomes of the case-by-case data matching which takes place between her Department and the Northern Ireland Department of Social Development. [54387/12]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:329. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Social Protection the nature, process and outcomes of North-South co-operation between her Department’s SIU officers and their counterparts in the Fraud Investigation Service. [54388/12]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 315 and 325 to 329, inclusive, together.
The Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005, allows a Departmental inspector to investigate - at the request of the competent authority of another Member State or international organisation or other country with which a reciprocal agreement has been made - any claim by a person resident in the State who is in receipt of any social security payment under the legislation of any of the above bodies. Legislation also provides for the transfer of bulk information relating to recipients of social welfare payments to the competent authority of another Member State or international organisation or other country with which a reciprocal agreement has been made (Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2009).
In practice, close co-operation exists between the relevant agencies in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in October 2000 on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Department of Work and Pensions, the Permanent Secretary, Department of Social Development and the Secretary General, Department of Social and Family Affairs (now the Department of Social Protection). The purpose of the MOU is to improve the efficiency, cost effectiveness and integrity of our mutual social security systems.
A Management Committee was established to oversee the workings of the MOU. The Committee comprises senior officials from Departments of Social Development, Social Protection and Work and Pensions and it assists and directs activities of the Cross Border Operational Forum, which deals with operational activities. Through the MOU and the work of the Operational Forum, considerable benefit has been derived by the parties through sharing of best practice in counter-fraud operations and highlighting awareness of new developments. In addition under the MOU, procedures have been implemented to ensure that all information requests and data exchanges are made through a single point of contact in each jurisdiction.
Over the past number of years, fraud detection systems in border areas have been refined and enhanced and are subject to continuing review. A range of measures are employed by the Department to ensure that social welfare fraud and abuse is minimised. The Department’s Special Investigation Unit works with other agencies such as Revenue, National Employment Rights Authority, Customs and the Gardaí and ensures that control activity is being targeted at high risk categories of claimants/employers. There is an active and on-going relationship between the Department’s SIU officers and their counterparts in the Fraud Investigation Service in Northern Ireland. The Deputies will appreciate that due to operational sensitivities, the Department is not in a position to release information regarding the specifics of control activities that target cross-border fraud.